As personal computers have evolved, the processing power, available memory, available peripheral devices and personal computer features such as the kinds of peripheral connection methods have increased with each passing year. When powering on a personal computer, a basic input-output system (BIOS) controls what occurs. A BIOS may check the status of various hardware components and devices and receive input from the hardware devices, such as keyboard, mouse, and other input devices. To receive such input, the BIOS must be able to receive data from and otherwise communicate with the devices attached to or included in the system. For example, it may be necessary for the BIOS to receive user input from a keyboard or for the BIOS to initiate execution of startup software to be read from, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, and compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM). To provide support for all of these devices, the BIOS contains software that is executed in system memory that serves as device drivers or other software that supports various devices until an operating system including drivers for the particular devices is loaded.